


Mirage

by ChildishSadism



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Child Abuse, Dark Fantasy, Eren is cute, Fantasy, Horror, It is tagged as ereri but honestly it is going to be riren, Kidnapping, Levi is too fancy, M/M, Magic, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Supernatural Elements, ereri, riren - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-28 21:34:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3870562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChildishSadism/pseuds/ChildishSadism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My shop is not one that just anyone can see. You can find anything you need in here, from a book to a spell and maybe something else. We can find what you need or maybe what you don't, you could be missing something you hadn't even lost. I can help you or you can help yourself, it all depends on how intrigued I am.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! New fic, new stuff, yay!
> 
> I have a new beta too! Thank you so much to Lizzp23 ouo/ she beta this fic and dealt with my laziness! yay!

The Sina road was home to quite a lot of different stores. It was the main street that lead towards the shopping district and also quite a few restaurants. One of the main attractions was the tall arches that surrounded the whole street, the arches were decorated with different lights that changed colors as night came, it was quite an architectural sight and it attracted all the young crowds. The sidewalks were wide and the shops had beautiful glowing signs that attracted all kinds of people. Business that were able to open on the street would usually become very profitable and stay for a very long time. You were lucky if you could land a shop in here or a restaurant.

Eren was very familiar with this street, this was the place he enjoyed spending most of his time. He could go watch a movie in the movie theater that was at the end of the street, or eat something nice in his favorite diner, even go to a bar without any real issues. It was perfect for a young teenager, and his friends loved it just as much as he did. Yet, Eren wasn't attracted to the bright lights tonight, or the smell of delicious food, no, something else caught his interest, so much that he lost sight of his group of friends.

The shop wasn't anything special, if anything it looked out of place. Everything around him was new, it looked like people put a lot of thoughts into it to attracting a younger crowd. The exterior of the shops were modern with a twist here and there, some of the shops even had fireplaces outside, anything to attract possible customers. But this shop, this shop didn't belong. It looked like something that came out from the Victorian era, it almost reminded him Eren of those old houses in novels like Sherlock Holmes. The shop didn't have any bright signs, or any bright lights. It looked dark and gloomy with paint that was cracking and slowly peeling off. The windows had heavy curtains that hid anything that was inside. There was a simple sign that was hanging from the side of the door and was slowly swinging back and forth with the wind. He could barely make out the text throughout the faded letters,

_Antiques and oddities_

_If you lost it we can find it._

It was an antique shop, or so it seemed, but Eren had never seen it before and he came here every weekend. There was no way this place was built in just a week. It was impossible, and it looked old, like it had been here forever. Had Eren missed this? Had he just never noticed the old shop? He wasn't even sure anymore. It was right in between the one of the fancy cafes he never bothered to go, and a pizza place he loved. How did he ever miss this? If his memory didn't fail him, he could remember and alley being there before, but was it there? Or was this shop always here and Eren just mistook it as an ally because of how dark it was? Compared to the rest of the street this place truly was obscure and dark.

It was a simple case of curiosity and the cat. Eren couldn't help but to walk towards the shop. He opened the door and went inside, letting the door close behind him. A small bell rang as he stepped inside and Eren was greeted with a big...library? The room was big, with books everywhere. The book shelves reached all the way to the ceiling and they were stuffed with books that looked like they hadn't been touched in years. There were tables here and there, but more books were taking up the little space there was. The big Victorian chairs had books on top of them, but a couple were empty at least, welcoming whoever wanted to read a book in the dim light. For such an old place, it was oddly very clean, there was no dust anywhere and everything seemed to have a home. Even if it wasn't actually very organized. Eren walked through the small hallway that was free of books or odd looking objects. He could see coo-coo clocks scattered around the room, and a few vases and statues that looked old. The floor had jewelry and Eren was seriously curious if whoever owned this shop was a saint or stupid, because who would leave something so valuable just laying around on the floor!

After struggling to get through two long rows of books, Eren was finally able to make it to the front desk. Which surprise, was covered on more odd stuff that had the teen twisting his lips in distaste. Now he could see pocket watches, glasses that were broken, and some clothes that looked like they were being fixed. What kind of shop was this? It was like a walking disaster, it didn't even seem to have any employees to begin with! Maybe it was closed? No way, it wouldn't had been open otherwise, right? Eren wasn't even sure what to think anymore, he just sighed to himself. He was wasting so much time by being here. The teen was about to just turn around and leave when he noticed the bell on the desk, with a small sign on top.

" _Ring for assistance!"_

The note looked faded, like it had been written a long time ago but the teen just shrugged and slammed his hand on the bell. Once, twice, and a third time. He looked around, not seeing anyone at all still. It was deadly quiet and the big room suddenly felt smaller, almost claustrophobic. There was too much stuff, too many things, and it felt like it was slowly caging the teen in. He wasn't even sure why he was panicking, or why the room suddenly didn't look as harmless as before. Maybe because he never noticed the old, scary paintings on the walls, with gory images, or the different bones that hung from the ceiling, or even the books that looked like they had blood on them. Suddenly, everything looked very dangerous.

"I heard you on the first ring."

The teen snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a voice behind him. He quickly spun around, his eyes wide as he stared at the man sitting on one of the Victorian chairs, with a book in his hands. The man wasn't even looking at him, his silver eyes were still looking at the book in front of him. He was an odd fella too, just like the store. Eren found himself tilting his head in confusion. The man in front of him was wearing a nice pair of black trousers and shoes. He wore a dark blue vest with a white dress shirt underneath and lastly a cravat around his neck. What oddest thing about him was the fact that he wore a monocle, who did that? No one did that! Eren wasn't even sure if you could still buy those, but he seemed to be using it perfectly fine. Lastly, one pendant earring was on the man's right ear, opposite from where the monocle was. His dark raven hair was parted on the side and the undercut he sported looked freshly shaven.

Eren had never seen a man dress like this, well except in movies, but that was it. People didn't dress like this, or at least that's what Eren was telling himself because there was no way anyone could get away with that get up without being made fun of. But then again the man sitting on that chair didn't look like the type that cared about what people said. In fact he didn't look like he cared about much, because he was still not even paying attention to Eren and he was his only customer, what kind of store was this? It was for sure the worst service experience he ever had.

"Your shop, I have never seen it before. Is it new?" The teen finally asked after a long silence. It didn't look like the man in front of him felt like talking much.

"No, not really. I have always been here, you probably never needed to notice it." The man chuckled quietly, flipping the page of his book.

Well, that was awfully vague. Eren just wanted a good explanation, and this was for sure not one. Even if you don't need a store, shop or restaurant, you always noticed where they are, right?

"I call BS on that..." The teen huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I come here every weekend, and I love the pizza place right next to you, there is no way I never noticed this gloomy store."

"Ah, yes, I really hate that smell. Try living next to it. I wake up to the smell of pizza and go to sleep to the smell of pizza. I'm sick of it, I can't even look at cheese anymore without feeling like throwing up..." The man finally closed his book, a look of distaste on his face. He stood up, fixing his vest before giving the teen a small smirk. "But if you are here, then it means you need something, right? Something only I can give you. What is it that you need? A book? Spices? Spells? A recipe? Maybe a potion...I even have all the ingredients. There is nothing I don't have."

Eren was at total loss of what to say, potions? Spells? Why the hell would he need that for? More importantly, who would? This was probably one of those stupid Gothic stores where all the weird headbanger kids hanged out at, figures. The get up, the look, and all the weird shit, this totally screamed goth bullshit. Eren was almost disappointed that he fell for something so obvious.

"Nah, not really...I'm not into all of that weird shit dude, I'm leaving, thanks." The teen sighed, now angry at himself. He wasted probably like twenty minutes in the store and now his friends were god knows where. He shouldn't have left them.

"Or, perhaps. You lost something..."

The voice sounded awfully close to Eren's ear, so much that the teen turned around in less than a second, just to find the same man standing behind the reception desk. His chin resting on top of his hands as he stared at Eren with an amused look on his face.

Lost something? Had Eren lost something? The question made him wonder. What had Eren lost? It wasn't the first time he asked himself this, but he was never able to figure it out. What did he lose? Where was it and how could he forget about it? All of these questions he asked himself before, when he was younger. Yeah, he could remember that much. He could remember crying on the kitchen floor, and no one knew why. He cried and cried for days, until his body couldn't take it. He was taken to a hospital, to a therapist. To so many different places, until he was able to stop screaming and crying, until he stopped calling a name. Yes, Eren had lost something, something no one could remember, not even him. But the pain, he had felt it because he had seen it. It was such a long time ago, whatever he had lost, it was probably gone, it had been such a long time ago. There was no doubt it was gone.

"No, I didn't lose anything." The teen found himself mumbling. He looked away and walked towards the exit.

"Ah, what a shame, well, if you remember that you lost something, just come back. I'm quite skilled at finding things, people didn't even know they were missing."

Eren closed the door behind him and left the store. He walked towards the bus stop and sat there. Tonight had been a weird night, weirder than usual. There was little in him that wanted to socialize now, and how could he, he had just met one of the weirdest people in his life and to top it all off he was now thinking about odd things that he himself couldn't explain. Maybe it was best if he didn't think about it, maybe just maybe, he was better off as he was. The teen sighed and waited for his bus, after a good fifteen minutes of waiting the bus finally stopped in front of him and he swiped his bus card before sitting on one of the seats near the back. He watched as the lights slowly faded and became nothing but a blur. He should at least text his friends to let them know though, maybe he could make an excuse about feeling bad and leaving urgently, although that was probably only going to worry them more.

The ride back home was uneventful, which was odd because Eren was expecting something weird to happen, maybe another bus showing up out of nowhere that he had never seen before, except it was going to look old and rusty, but no such thing happened and Eren was almost disappointed. He made it home safely and his mother was of course surprised to see him coming back so early. It was hardly seven and it was Saturday, the teen was usually out until around twelve on a Saturday.

"Eren, you're home early!"

The teen turned towards the kitchen and smiled at his mother. The older woman was wearing some loose sweats and a T-shirt with her hair tied in a ponytail. She had an apron on to keep her cooking mess off of her clothes. Carla Jaeger turned and smiled at her son, her bright honey colored eyes happy too see him home and safe. If Eren had gotten anything from his parents, it had been his mother. The teen looked like a mirror image of his mother, they had the same eyebrows, same round and soft face. Even the same eye color, which was still quite eerie and even doctors thought was some kind of odd gene, and lastly, their dark hair that was messy and thick.

"What happened? Was it boring tonight?" Carla turned to continue her cooking, checking on the sauce she was making for her pasta.

"No, it wasn't that...I just wasn't feeling it, you know?" The teen chuckled, sitting on one of the stools near the kitchen island. He sighed and rested his head on the cold granite.

"Uh? Not feeling it? Are you getting the flu? Maybe I should tell your father to give you a check up, it wouldn't hurt." Carla frowned, giving her soon a worried look. She lowered the heat on the stove and took a seat in front of her son.

"Nah, is not that. Someone just said that I lost something but I can't remember what it is." The teen sighed, resting his chin on the countertop now to look at his mother.

"Lost something? I wonder what it is..." She tapped her chin, tilting her head. "What did you possibly lose?"

Eren frowned, looking up at his mother, his eyes staring at the woman in front of him. He couldn't help himself but smile at how silly his mother looked, still he was a bit afraid of asking the next question, he sat up on his chair and looked at his mother with a questioning look.

"Maybe it was something from when I was in the hospital...do you know what I lost?"

Eren watched as the smile on his mother's face turned into a frown, her eyes looking at him with worry.

"Eren, we already went over this, we don't know what happened to you. You should just leave what's in the past in the past. Bringing back those memories won't do anything but hurt you." Carla nodded slowly, her hand gently running through her son's hair.

"But, it feels like, I need to remember something. I want to know what I lost." Eren leaned against the hand in his hair, his eyes closing.

"You didn't lose anything dear, you just had something bad happen to you but now you are fine, you are fine here with me and your father..." Carla smiled warmly at her son and kissed the top of his head. "So please, stop thinking about it."

"I want to, but-" The teen was interrupted when the two heard the front door opening.

"I'm home!" The familiar voice of Eren's father filled the house and his mother giggled quietly.

Grisha Jaeger was tugging at his tie as he came around the corner. He looked tired from a long day at work and just sighed quietly as he sat on the kitchen table. He took off his glasses and fixed his hair, before turning his attention towards Eren and Carla.

"How you are doing today?" The older male smiled, as he took off his blazer.

"I'm good, mom wants you to check me for the flu, but I don't want to." The teen half whined and just chuckled when his mother lazily tugged on his ear.

"Well, if your mother insists, then I can't really say no. Right?" The man gave a small smile, although he didn't seem to be too interested in the conversation. He was probably tired.

"I guess so, I'm going to my room. I don't want to see you two being all gross." The teen made a face and ran out of the kitchen before his mother could say anything to him. He snickered the whole time.

Maybe his mother was right, he should leave this whole issue alone. What could he have possibly lost, there was nothing he could think of. The nagging in his head wouldn't stop, but he tried to ignore it. He had to, with a soft sigh he closed his eyes, rubbing them as he stretched and opened the door to his bedroom. He needed to relax, the odd guy was just putting him on edge, he was probably one of those weird people that would guess things that made people doubt themselves and fall for their bullshit so then you would buy whatever trinkets they said would help you out. What a dick, playing Eren like that just wasn't fair, especially when he would fall for that crap so easily.

The teen shook his head and went inside his room, ignoring the mess on the floor as he made his way towards the bathroom. He needed to shower, and to change clothes For some reason he felt really dirty. He was just about to go into his bathroom when he noticed something from the corner of his eyes. He stopped on his tracks, his eyes widening as he slowly turned his head.

No.

There was no way.

Eren's eyes widened as he stared at the man that was sitting on his desk, a book on his hands as he kept reading, not paying attention to the teen that was frozen in place.

It was the same man

What was he doing here?

How did he get into his room?

How did he find his house?

The teen swallowed heavily, his body trembling as he tried to move but he couldn't. The man wasn't doing anything, he wasn't even looking at him, yet he wouldn't allow Eren to move. Eren shook his head, and forced his body to move, but the only thing he could do was to walk backwards until his back was hitting the wall behind him. The slight noise made the man look away from his book, his silver eyes staring at the teen, pinning him in place. The same tinted lips were smiling, and the amused look was back.

"You made me quite curious, I couldn't help myself but to intrude. I just wanted to see what exactly you had lost, and I finally figured it out..." The man closed his book, and jumped off of Eren's desk. "Have you?"

Eren couldn't even bring himself to say anything, he simply shook his head, his body shaking non-stop. He was scared, who was this guy, how was he able to break in so easily. He needed to make a noise though, he needed to let his parents know.

"N-no..." He found his voice, his lips trembling against his words. "No, I haven't. N-no! Get out of my room! Get out! Who are you!" Eren's voice kept raising, his eyes wide in fear as he started to scream. He heard footsteps running towards him. It was probably his dad, yes. It was his dad. The teen ran towards the door but he found himself bumping against something hard. It was the man, he was now in front of him, and walking towards him, cornering him until he was on the opposite wall of the door.

"Eren! Eren, are you alright!?" It was his dad, he was pounding on the door, and trying to open it. He couldn't remember locking it.

"Well boy, our time is running short..." The man chuckled. "or maybe not, that depends on you. Don't you wanna know, what exactly you lost?"

Eren shook his head, his back now touching the window behind him. He wanted to jump out, he probably wouldn't die, it was only the second floor. But he didn't want to leave his dad alone with this psycho, what if he hurt him? What if he killed him? Or his mother, the mere thought made his blood run cold and he shook his head, he wasn't going to run away. Yet, when his father finally was able to open the door the teen dashed through the room, and his father quickly wrapped one of his arms around the boy. Grisha glared at the stranger, but the odd man just smirked, his eyes narrowing.

"Come on, Eren Jaeger..." The man knew his whole name, and Eren could feel his blood turning cold. "Don't you want to know what you lost, what is being hidden from you? Why don't you ask your dad? I'm sure he knows the answers, or maybe your mommy? I'm sure she would love to answer any doubts you have." He was mocking him, the man was mocking him. He was mocking his family and it was making him furious...but where was his mother.

"Ah, she isn't coming? Why am I not surprised." The man laughed quietly. "Seems like only your daddy is here to protect you, right? That's what he likes to be called, hmm?"

"Shut up! Leave my house at once." Grisha yelled at the man, his arm still around his son, pulling him towards him and shielding him from the stranger.

"Your house? You call this dump a house?" The man made a disgusted face, crossing his arms over his chest. "Even coming in here was disgusting for me, you should be more grateful Eren."

Eren glared at the man, his eyes narrowing. How dare he say those things about his home, his father worked so hard, even working overtime to be able to give them a nice life. They lived in a good neighborhood, in a nice house with all the luxury his father could afford or that his mother wished. It was what anyone wanted and wished for, there was no way anyone could hate it.

"Go away! Go away! I didn't lose anything, I didn't! I didn't! Go away!" Eren felt his father tensing against him, and he looked up at him, the man was frowning and looking down at him.

"Eren, is this about that crap again? How long are you going to keep thinking that, you didn't lose anything, nothing ever happened! Is this another doctor or some bullshit like that!" Grisha was half yelling at his son now, his hold on his arm tightening, making the teen flinch in pain.

"N-no, I swear. I didn't say anything like that, I don't even know who he is! I didn't lose anything, I'm home, with my family! I'm home with my family." The teen felt tears in the corner of his eyes.

"Are you?"

That simple question had Eren closing his eyes and covering his ears. The man's voice was an echo in his head and he couldn't make it stop.

"Are you home Eren Jaeger. Are you sure, you didn't lose something, are you absolutely positive?"

The teen heard himself screaming and falling on his knees, his hands covering his ears as hard as he could. He was crying and he kept screaming, trying to muffle the noise behind his screams, but soon enough he was able to hear other screams. Someone else was screaming. The teen stopped, panting heavily as he tried to breathe evenly but his throat was killing him. He was tearing up and everything was blurry. But he could see it. It was his father, he was on top of the man, using what looked like a hammer. He was bringing it down, over and over on the man's body and Eren could see blood. He could see blood everywhere on the floor.

His father, he was killing the man.

"You won't take him away!" Grisha yelled, as he slammed the hammer down on the man's face again, this time breaking the others jaw and splashing blood everywhere on the floor, but he kept going and going, hitting the body until it was doing nothing but moving along with the violent hits. The floor was covered in blood and Grisha had blood and pieces of skin and god knows what else all over his clothes and the hammer...the hammer even had hair clinging to the blood on it. Raven hair.

Eren couldn't move, he could only stare at the scene in front of him, his eyes wide as he stood frozen in place for a second time. He felt like throwing up but he couldn't and his lungs were burning, there was a knot in his throat and he was having a hard time breathing. It was hurting, his chest was hurting, and his eyes were tearing up non-stop. He wasn't even sure why he couldn't look away from the scene in front of him. But maybe, it was because it was so familiar. He had seen it before, he had. He stared at the dead man and how his father was hitting the corpse over and over again. He stared into those dead silver eyes, blinking and watching.

The silver eyes turned into a honey color, and the black hair got longer and longer, until it was a different face, one that Eren knew for sure.

"M-mom..." The teen mumbled, his lips trembling as he stared at the dead body of his mother, and the man that was beating her to death. He couldn't look away, even when the killer turned around and walked towards him and hugged him. He hugged him and pet his hair, whispering something to his ear, but Eren just stared in horror, when he noticed the body of his father next to his mother's. The clean glasses were shattered and covered in blood, he was missing the side of his head, and his neck was bent at an odd angle. It was his parents, both of them, both of them were dead and Eren couldn't even bring himself to scream. Who was hugging him, the teen couldn't even bring himself to look, he was too scared, and the pain in his chest was growing. He wanted to throw up, he wanted to throw up, he wanted to throw up.

Eren kept staring at the corpses in front of him, but then they were gone, and not even the odd man was there. But he had been killed, Eren saw it, the person hugging him stank of blood and gore. The hammer was on the floor, not too far from where he was, the evidence of blood and hair still clinging to it. But the man was no longer there.

"You see it now? Can you guess what you lost, Eren Jaeger."

The man was standing on the middle of the room again, and the killer pulled away from Eren, his father pulled away from him and turned, his body freezing just like Eren's.

"H-how...y-you...I-I did it, I killed you." The voice sounded odd, even different to Eren.

"Eren, look, do you see it now." The man was looking directly at him, those silver eyes giving Eren his whole attention.

The teen stared back, slowly blinking until things looked a bit different. The room that he once loved was nothing like he remembered. It was nothing but a room with a flashlight in the corner, there was a mattress with a blanket on top, and some clothes on the floor. The windows had been covered by wooden planks that were nailed to them, and only let some light slip through. The floor was filthy, and the walls were covered with water damage. It wasn't his room, it wasn't his room. What was this...

Eren let out a small sob, his body feeling so tired, his head was hurting and slowly he turned his head, looking to his side to see his father, except it wasn't. It was a man Eren had only seen once before, or so he thought. The older man was tall and big, with no hair but a beard. He was wearing old clothes that looked filthy as well, in fact he looked like he hadn't taken a shower in a long time. The killer was staring at the man with wide, horrified eyes, and he looked at Eren, his hands reaching for the teen except he quickly pulled back, he didn't want to be touched, no, he didn't. He didn't want this.

"Eren Jaeger...I found what you lost." The man was now next to Eren and he glanced at him, watching as the silver eyes stared at him once more. "The thing that you lost, was yourself. Eren Jaeger, the missing son of Grisha and Carla Jaeger, the couple that was killed in their own home." The stranger held a piece of paper for Eren, it was a police report with a picture of a boy no older than eleven. He was smiling at the camera, it was obviously a school picture. The big bold letters said missing child, last seen in his own neighborhood before his parent's murder.

"You lost yourself..." The man said quietly and Eren felt like he was about to die. He felt like he was throwing up except he wasn't, his throat was burning and his skin was as well. It hurt, his whole body hurt. He held onto his head, pulling on his hair. He was in pain, and the splitting headache he had was not helping, but he had seen it. He could still see it, his parents being killed. He had seen everything. He watched, he watched as the man did it, and he watched as the man moved near him and took him with him. He took him with him. Oh god...

Eren threw up this time, his body almost giving out on him as he did so. He was crying again, his body shaking non-stop. He could hear himself screaming over and over, he could feel his body writhe in pain, he could feel his insides burning and his legs trembling as he threw up once more. It happened, over and over. He had been here in this fake home, in this fake house, for so many years. He didn't want to remember, he didn't want to, no, no, it hurt and he felt like throwing up again, but he couldn't anymore, he couldn't.

"Eren, don't listen to him, come here, come with daddy, I'll make everything alright again, I promise." Eren looked up and stared at the man in front of him, the killer, the abuser, the everything. He stared at him with wide eyes, and shook his head, his stomach twisting and turning as he felt nothing but disgust. He wanted to die, he wanted to die, but he wanted to kill this man more than anything else. He had done it, he did this to him, he did this to his family. He did all of this. The teen heard himself screaming and before he knew it, he was grabbing the hammer next to him, and launching towards the abuser. He hit the man on the head, he hit him so hard that blood splattered right away, but he kept going. He did it again and again, breaking and cracking the man's skull until his brain was spilling out and his eyes were splitting against his own bones. He kept going until those teeth were all knocked out and until that neck was broken and he kept going and going, until blood was everywhere, until he couldn't stop, until his hand was weakling hitting the ground.

"Come on boy, let's get you cleaned up." Eren let the stranger grab onto his arm and he finally dropped the hammer, he stared at what had been his room one more time before looking away. He was back in the same store once more, he didn't even asked how they got here so quickly, or how it was possible. At this point he didn't care. He just followed the man, until he went inside a big bathroom with a large bathtub that had water in it already.

"Get in there."

And Eren did what he was told, he stepped into the water, with his clothes on and sat in the tub, the warm water slowly turning red but the color was soon gone and replaced by more clean water. It was almost as if it was cleaning itself. There was a long silence, neither of them spoke a word. The man was cleaning Eren's face and hair, getting rid of all the remains that were clinging to his form. The hands were gently cleaning Eren's hair but the teen couldn't help himself but to curl up and bury his face against his knees.

"W-what about my friends." The teen was finally able to say, his voice hoarse and sore.

"People that are lost tend to think of things that are not there." The man nodded slowly. All that Eren thought was true, had never been there. He had indeed lost something, and it was something that nobody was able to figure out, because when you lose yourself, only other people can see it but if there is no one near you, then you were lost forever.

"It is all gone, all of it." Eren felt like crying again but he couldn't. It was almost as if his body didn't have any more tears left. Like it had been enough for today, today he couldn't cry anymore, but it only made the pain on his chest worst.

"Not quite, you found yourself. You still have a life, a new one, and like I said. I couldn't help myself but to intrude, I was quite curious you see, of how someone like you, was able to see my shop. I don't think you are as simple as you might think you are Eren. I think it is time for you to have your own life."

The teen felt himself nodding, listening to what the man had to say. He felt as those hands kept cleaning his face and hair until all the blood was gone from his body. He was clean, but he didn't feel like he was, if anything he felt filthier than ever, and he found himself rubbing his arms and clawing at them, he was chewing on his lips and shaking his head, trying to forget the feeling, trying to forget those hands, trying to pretend that it had never happened, just like before, just like he did before!

"Don't lose yourself again Eren." The stranger was now holding onto his wrists, keeping him from hurting himself anymore, and those silver eyes were staring at him once more. "Don't do that to yourself again, you can get through this, I can help...I need a part timer in my shop, and an odd boy like you would do. What do you say?"

The teen couldn't do anything but to stare at the man in front of him, the knot in his throat was making it hard to speak, and just opening his mouth was hurting his throat. But he couldn't bring himself to be the same again, to live the same way again, to be a toy again. He nodded his head, a silent sob leaving his throat.

"W-what's your name?" The teen whispered, his body tired and worn out. He could feel his eyes closing and his body growing heavy.

"I'm Levi, they call me the collector and judge. It's a pleasure to meet you, Eren Jaeger, I hope we can work together."

Eren could only nod slowly before he felt his consciousness slipping away.


	2. Many for one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay new chapter! And this one didn't take me months to update.
> 
> Thanks to Lizzp23 again for being my beta u.u otherwise I wouldn't update at all! 
> 
> Anyhow....  
> [](http://postimage.org/)  
>   
> 

Dust, there was dust everywhere. No matter how many times Eren tried to keep this place clean, it just wasn't working. He would wash the curtains, he would dust the ceiling fans, he would even go as far as to pick up every single book in the god forsaken store and dust it off. He did all of this almost every single day and here he was, standing behind the reception desk waiting for anyone to come in and staring at dust, dust that was everywhere on the desk. He sighed loudly to himself and grabbed a cleaning towel from underneath the desk before his hand started to roughly clean the surface. Hopefully he could break this desk in half from the friction, then he would at least have something else to do, like fixing said desk.

A loud banging noise upstairs had Eren jumping on the spot and more dust falling from the old ceiling. It happened again and this time little chips from the ceiling started to fall off. It happened a THIRD time and by then Eren was throwing the rag against the desk and deciding to stomping his way upstairs. He spun around and went through the door behind him, which revealed a staircase with two large rooms on either side. One was the dining room and one the tea room, what was the difference? Eren had no freaking clue, Levi would drink tea in both rooms so technically both rooms were the tea room. He was honestly stressing himself out just for this. Now, where was he. The teen huffed and stomped his way upstairs, not caring about how his steps would make the staircase shake a little bit. It would hold! It always did. If it could withhold Eren falling down thirty steps, it could withstand his angry stomping.

At last, he made it to the second floor, and he turned right down the long hallway. By now he was mumbling to himself about how people had no concern for someone else job and so on. He stopped in front of a blue door and didn't think twice before opening the door, his face fixed with a glare.

"Levi! Do you mind? You are breaking the ceiling! I have dust and drywall everywhere on the first floor now!" The teen almost felt like an angry parent as he stood on the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I could have been naked and you still didn't knock." But thankfully Levi was dressed, the room he was in on the other hand, it didn't look too good. The walls looked like they'd been blown up, there was smoke and charcoal everywhere. The hardwood floors were dark and bare, with no coating on top, like they had been on a fire and all the furniture was destroyed. It honestly was a big surprise that the rest of the house still didn't look like that.

What was the crazy man doing this time? Eren wasn't even sure, because there was no evidence of what could have possibly happened. Levi was just standing on the middle of the room, looking like he had just walked in and found the room like this. Honestly, how could this man still have a house that wasn't just ruble.

"What are you doing now?" Eren sighed, his hands slapping on the side of his thighs as he tried really hard not to look as frustrated as he was.

Levi shrugged his shoulders and walked pass the teen, well, more like he appeared behind him and then kept walking down the hallway. "You know, stuff. Just trying to get some ingredients here and there. Do you know how hard it is to steal dragon scales? They have a lot, why do they have to be so greedy."

Eren just stared at Levi, following behind him with wide eyes. "Dragon scales? You brought a dragon to the shop?"

"Of course not, his fire just kinda followed me as I left though...and a claw, or two, had to shove the bastard back in there." Levi sounded just slightly annoyed that it made Eren just stare at him again, he stole dragon scales and talked about it like he was walking a dog in the park and then had to slap its nose because the poor thing was being bad.

"And you didn't think that maybe, I could have come with you and helped you? Instead incinerating one of the rooms." Eren wasn't even sure what was worst, the fact that Levi could have brought a dragon into the shop, or the fact that he wasn't there to see it. He was probably going crazy for thinking like this, maybe he was spending too much time with the old man.

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't need you for everything. Plus who was going to take care of the shop while I was away?" Levi kept walking, not once turning to face Eren.

"Oh yes, who was going to take care of this graveyard while you were away. Gotta stop those lines out the door, we wouldn't want them to have bad customer service." The teen's voice was dripping with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes and kept walking before everything went dark. He blinked once or twice but his legs didn't stop until he missed his footing and was once again rolling down the stairs.

"Watch where you are going, we don't want you to fall." Levi was already next to him, trying to hide a smirk behind his hand.

"You are a jackass..." The teen huffed and stood up, dusting himself off as he stared at the other. "What the hell did you need the dragon scales for anyways?"

"That's a good question..." Levi nodded and draped one of his arms around Eren's shoulders, leaning in to whisper near his face like if he was telling him the biggest secret known to man. "This is what you do, you chop them up really good. Grind them, make them a fine powder. Then you combine them with some spices, you know here and there, normal stuff like fire lilies pollen and such. Then you add them to some some orange dulce mix, you mix it well and put in a very fine bag, make sure it's not one with a lot of pores and that's it. You drop it in hot water and you enjoy it."

Eren stood there, not moving at all even after Levi moved to walk through the door in front of them. It was like his mind was struggling to process what the other had just said.

"You almost incinerated the shop because you wanted tea!?" Eren tried really hard not to yell but he couldn't help it, he followed Levi into the shop and almost felt like walking out the door and never coming back!

"Dragon tea Eren. Dragon. Tea. If someone said, do you want dragon tea would you say no to them? Plus it is a fine tea with a lot of good benefits behind it. I didn't risk burning my shop just for nothing!" Levi almost sounded offended if it wasn't because his voice, no matter what ridiculous stuff he was saying, always sounded monotone, just like his expression.

But he had to admit, if someone was to offer him dragon tea he would probably say yes in a heart beat. Still.

"That is not the point Levi! If this shop burns down then I'm homeless!" Honestly, Eren was going to die at the age of twenty anyways, from a heart attack, caused by this man. "I'm gonna be a homeless, teenager and I'm probably going to end up with an abusive pimp or something like that..." The whole idea was depressing and had the teen dropping his head on top of the reception desk. "My life sucks."

"Don't be so dramatic, the shop is fine..." Levi rolled his eyes at him and gently slapped Eren on the arm. "But god, this place looks a mess, dust everywhere...You been slacking kid."

Eren wasn't going to be homeless, he was going to commit murder one day. He was going to end up in jail. He was about to say something back when the bell rang and the door cracked open. The two looked at each other before Levi simply disappeared, leaving Eren alone and looking at the new customer curiously.

A woman no older than twenty stepped in. She was looking around the shop with wide eyes, her black hair framing her face and touching her neck. The cutout dress she wore had a flower pattern and reached her knees, a pair of stockings covering the rest of her legs. The flat shoes she had on were gently tapping against the floor. She was holding her purse, looking around with suspicious but curious eyes, that was until they landed on Eren.

The teen waved at her, an awkward smile on his lips as she kept staring not saying a word.

"Hi, I'm Eren..." God he sounded like a dork. "How can I help you today?"

"What kind of shop is this? A library? Your sign is sure misleading." The woman chuckled and walked towards the reception desk, putting her purse on the desk as she took another quick glance around the room.

"Nope, we are what we say we are. But what exactly are you looking for?" The teen smiled, almost bouncing in excitement. Finally, a customer, it had been forever since they had someone coming into the shop.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. Well, I know actually, but I don't even know why I decided to come here in the first place." She laughed quietly, looking nervous. "I'm not even sure how you can help. I was just walking down the street and saw this shop, and it felt like you would...like you could help, but the thing is. I lost something, it was my mother's necklace. It belonged to my grandmother and my great grandmother and so on. It has been in the family for a long time, but I'm not upset about losing that old thing. The problem is...well, I always wear it, but I stayed at a friends house one night and forgot it there. He was going to bring it back to me the same day at work but, he never showed up. He's missing, he went missing after he had my necklace."

"What makes you think it was because of the necklace." Eren frowned, leaning in against the reception desk.

"This might sound stupid to you, I mean, I feel crazy just saying it myself and considering it but I really don't know what else to do. My mother said to always wear it and never give it to anyone, to make sure I always kept it near me or bad things could happen. She said it was cursed, that it was my job to keep it safe. I know you probably think I'm crazy but I never believed it myself until he went missing. My friend went missing because of me, and I don't know why, but I am sure it was because of that necklace. I can feel it in me." The woman's eyes narrowed with determination, she was determined to have Eren believe her even though the teen wasn't doubting her at all, he knew how it was...to have a story that couldn't be explained and have no one believe you.

"How long has your friend been missing?"

The woman jumped away from the reception desk when Levi appeared right next to her. The older male was looking at her with curiosity that Eren was very familiar with by now. The woman whoever was in shock and staring at him with wide eyes, not finding the words in her mouth. She finally shook her head and blinked a couple of times before looking back at Levi.

"Two weeks ago, the police have no clue of what happened. His neighbors was the last one to see him walking out of his apartment but no one ever saw him leave the building." She nodded slowly, looking between Eren and Levi.

"Then he is probably still there." Levi gave a firm nod and then walked over to a coat hanger to grab a blazer. Eren could only roll his eyes at him, why did he always had to go with the fancy clothing. The teen on the other hand grabbed his black hoodie and slipped it on. It was almost the end of September, which meant it was starting to get cold.

"I don't follow...the police looked everywhere. I doubt they would have missed him in his own building." She frowned, following Eren towards the door.

"Of course not, they are police officers, they can hardly do their jobs right, god forbid they actually can solve shit like this, they would fuck it all up..." Levi rolled his eyes and pointed at Eren. "You get Mikasa here..." He then pointed at the woman. "some jacket or something, is cold outside."

Eren nodded and walked towards a small closet that had different sweaters and jackets inside, mostly his own. He grabbed something that looked warmed enough and handed it to the woman. She took the offered clothing with a small thank you and slipped on the red hoodie before wrapping the red scarf around her neck. Still she was looking at Eren with wide eyes, and confusion.

"How does he know my name?" Mikasa frowned, zipping up the hoodie as she follow Eren towards the door.

"Believe me, he has a way around everything." The teen chuckled and glanced back at Levi.

Levi lead them out of the shop, leaving the door open for the two. The teen nodded at Mikasa and the girl ended up following him, of course by now Eren knew what was going to happen, and he honestly didn't want Mikasa freaking out too much because as soon as they stepped out of the shop the trio was no longer on Sina street, but in front of an apartment building near downtown. The industrial looking building was five floors high and covered almost a whole block, it had probably been a warehouse or factory that had been bought and turned into apartments. The place was surrounded by large windows with curtains, some of them had their lights on and some didn't.

Mikasa blinked a couple of times before her eyes widened as she looked around, trying to make sense of what just happened. She looked at Eren, the confusion clear on her face but the teen just shrugged and smiled at her, holding onto the sleeve of her sweatshirt so she could follow them. Levi was already making his way towards the gated door and simply opened it, nobody buzzed him in or anything. He simply walked in. Eren follow behind Levi, almost bouncing on his feet because of how excited he was, he couldn't stop smiling, his eyes kept looking around taking in everything inside the building.

The hallways were dark. The walls were painted a dark green color and there were only a few lights on the ceiling. The apartment doors were separated by a huge gap and none of them had lights around them, but the hallways did have huge windows towards the end and sometimes in between but the night sky wasn't letting any light in, if anything it was giving an eerie glow. The front desk was closed with only a emergency number written on the closed sign.

"Looks nice..." Levi added after a couple of minutes. He was looking around, peeking curiously through the hallways. "Your friend left his apartment, right?"

"Yes, but no one saw him get out. There is no video footage of it either." Mikasa speed up her phase to catch up with Levi.

"Which floor is his apartment on?" Levi was already leading them towards the elevators.

"Third floor, he lives towards the back corner of the building, this place is huge."

The shop owner nodded, gently scratching his chin as he waited for the elevator to reach their floor. "That means he went missing in between two floors, mh, that makes it a bit harder but I guess we could cheat..." Levi chuckle and glanced at Eren, his finger beckoning him closer.

Eren just rolled his eyes, mumbling quietly to himself as he walked towards the other. He looked like he was pouting and was avoiding eye contact with Levi, but the older male just huffed at him in return before holding onto Eren's jaw with his whole hand, keeping his face in place as he got closer to him.

"Don't be a brat, come on."

Eren mumbled quietly, something about never being able to see all the cool stuff and Levi gently squeezed his jaw so his cheeks were puffing out and his lips as well. The teen gently pushed on the other to force him to stop and Levi only snickered in return before turning his attention back to the teen, his eyes staring directly into Eren's wide eyes.

"Let me borrow your eyes, Eren." Levi gently mumble and the teen went stiff as the light in his eyes became dull before little by little his eyeballs became a dark color. The black crawled across his eyes and then it reached his irises until it consumed his eyes completely. The teen gasped, as his eyes were taken by darkness, the light inside of them floated like see through silk that was slowly moving towards Levi. The raven smirked as the light slowly crawled across his own eyes until the silver eyes became turquoise. Levi blinked a couple of times and then let go of Eren, this time though, he didn't see the same things as he did before.

"Is the third floor, right outside the elevator." The raven nodded and held onto Eren's arm, guiding him inside the elevator. "Mikasa, Eren cannot see or hear right now, so you are going to have to keep an eye on him, this looks worst than what I first thought and I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of him by myself."

Mikasa automatically slipped her arms around Eren's arm, her eyes wide as he stared at the teen with dark eyes. "What did you do?"

"Eren has special eyes, he can see things other people can't and he can also make them come true. Kinda like an illusion, he can make them with his eyes and also see through the ones other people make...among other things. But right now he is allowing me to see where your friend is, and also letting me drag him out and whoever is keeping him trapped."

Mikasa wasn't sure of what to say, she wasn't even sure if she believed what she was hearing but after what she had just witnessed, how could she not believe it. It was almost impossible not to. She could only nod slowly, looking in between Eren and Levi. "How...How come he doesn't uses them himself then? Why are you leaving him blind? And deaf, I don't get it."

"Because I don't let him use them, last time he did...well, he just spent a lot of time lost, but that is something that you don't have to worry about." The raven smirked "And as to why he can't hear. It is safer for him this way. If they know you can see them or hear them, they will come for you because you are not supposed to be able to do it."

"Will I be able to see them?" Mikasa rubbed her lips together, her hold on Eren's arm tightening a little bit.

"Yes, I need you to, you are the owner and also you are the only one that can tell me who is your friend. I wouldn't want to drag someone out that should have been left in there." The elevator came to a stop then, and Levi glanced back at Mikasa.

"Where exactly are we going?" She was afraid to ask, because she somewhat knew the answer already and it was dragging goose bumps all across her arms.

"Well, that depends...I don't know how many people died to make your necklace, I just hope we don't end up balls deep, or else we might not find your friend."

The doors of the elevator slowly opened, the gate going up as the doors split open, letting them step out of the industrial elevator and into the new hallway. Mikasa was nervous, her hold on Eren's arm was tight. She was looking left and right, wishing that for once the hallways in this building weren't so dark. She did miss how Levi started to mumble to himself and how he rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt, the actions of the other were not distracting enough but what did caught her eyes was hair. Mikasa blinked and her eyes slowly lowered and stared at the little girl in front of them, she was probably not older than ten and was standing there with a nightgown, her black hair reached her back and it was so dark it almost looked like charcoal itself. She was slightly rocking back and forth, her eyes looking down. She looked familiar, at least Mikasa could have sworn she had seen her before.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" Mikasa asked quietly but Levi kept her from reaching for the little girl. He shook his head and slowly tried to walk them back inside the elevator, except it was gone, there was only a wall behind them.

"Ah, come on, urg, I hate gutsy spirits." The shop owner hissed and before he could do anything the girl was looking up at them, her dark eyes staring at the three, or so Mikasa thought, she was looking in between herself and Levi but was skipping Eren all together. She smiled at the two and tried to reach for Mikasa but the moment she got near her the girl was shoved back, and bounced against the wall behind her. Mikasa had no idea of what had just happened but was glad the girl wasn't able to touch her.

The spirit slowly stood up, whimpering quietly before her narrowed eyes turned towards the trio. She screamed and Mikasa found herself letting go of Eren to cover her ears. The scream was loud and high pitched but it changed to a deep dark voice. It sounded like more than one person was screaming at the same time and their voices were all mixed together. She closed her eyes and screamed herself, missing how Levi had screamed at her to not let go of Eren, but it was too late. Mikasa was covering her ears and closing her eyes but then the scream stopped.

Mikasa let out a shaky sigh, her hands letting go of her numb ears before her eyes slowly opened. Except she wasn't in a hallway anymore, she was in one of the apartments, which one? She wasn't sure but it wasn't one that she had seen before. The apartment looked like a family apartment, she could see that the kitchen had a coloring book with crayons laying across it and there were toys everywhere in the wide living area.

"Levi? Eren?" She called out the duo and walked through the apartment. She was careful, making sure not to miss anything or at least she was trying to, but there was no one home. The kid's bedrooms were empty and so were the bathrooms, the last room she checked was the master bedroom. The TV was on, the news reporter talking about a blackout or something like that, Mikasa wasn't paying attention to the TV, instead she looked inside the big closet and checked the bathroom last. The bathroom light was flickering, and the large bathtub was filled with water, there was still steam coming from it, meaning that it hadn't been filled too long ago. Mikasa frowned, looking around the bathroom once again before turning to leave. There was no one there.

The soft splashing of water made Mikasa turn and look back inside the bathroom, but the water looked the same. She frowned and turned again but the splashing sound happened once more. She narrowed her eyes and spun around, facing the bathroom this time. No one, there was no one. With a growl she walked backwards, staring at the bathroom the whole time and as she did, the splashing sound came back, it was slowly getting closer and closer. Mikasa walked into the bedroom and then she noticed it, the footprints on the floor. How did she missed them before? The wet footprints were appearing on the floor and as they did the same noise came back. There was someone there, someone she couldn't see but she could hear. Without a second thought she sprinted out of the room, closing the door behind her and quickly running towards the front door. The footsteps became louder, chasing after her as she tried to reach the front door.

Mikasa left the apartment, closing the door behind her and quickly running down the hallway. All the apartment doors were cracked open, none of them were locked but she didn't dare to go inside. She needed to find Levi and Eren or the elevator. Levi had made it sound like the first floor was safe and only the second and third floor were dangerous, maybe if she could make it to the first floor again, she would be safe. With that in mind she kept looking for the elevator or the emergency stairs. She kept running but came to an abrupt stop when she noticed footsteps ahead of her. The wet foot prints were slowly moving towards her, she hissed and quickly turned to try to run somewhere else but another set of footprints were moving towards her. Mikasa glanced around, panting quietly before quickly running towards the apartment in front of her, she closed the door and locked it, leaning against it before screaming when something tried to kick the door open. It was strong enough to almost shove her away from the door but she held her ground, not wanting to let whatever the hell was outside in. She felt something on her shoulder and spun around, her fist closed as she punched whoever was touching her.

"Woah there." Levi was hardly able to dodge the punch and Mikasa just stared at him, her eyes wide and her breathing heavy. Before she could stop herself she hugged the other. Levi just gently pat her head and pulled her up.

"Come on, we gotta move and we have to find Eren before the spell wears off. If he is not near me I can't keep it up for too long." The raven nodded at the girl in front of him, waiting for Mikasa to be able to hold her own before letting go of her. She weakly nodded back and followed Levi through the apartment, except the other was moving through the building with amazing speed, one second they were inside an apartment and the next they were in a hallway. Mikasa could see children sitting and playing, all of them girls, some of them were looking through the clothes inside the closet and some other were staring at the TV curiously. The moment the girls got a glimpse of the two though, they would stop what they were doing and instead tried to chase them, they would scream and Mikasa could feel their hands reaching for her, she could feel fingers on her hair and legs but Levi never stopped. He kept going, leaving the little girls behind.

"Where the hell is he." Levi hissed quietly to himself as the two came to a stop in the middle of a hallway.

"Maybe he is not here, maybe they left him behind somewhere. He can't see them or hear them right?"

"No, that couldn't have happened. I'm still connected to him, which means he is not far. We just can't find him." Levi chuckled and Mikasa just frowned before blinking when an idea hit her.

"What if he is close, but above us?" As if to make her point she pointed to the floor above them.

"I was in the floor above before and I couldn't find him..." The raven frowned, sighing as he heard the giggling of the girls coming closer and closer. "Those freaky bitches...but maybe he is moving too, urg, I told him to stay still when this shit happened, he never listens. Come on."

Mikasa yelped when Levi grabbed her wrist and dragged her through the hallways again. The building was changing, the hallways were darker and were painted a red color, the floor that was once gray was now black and the windows were disappearing, the whole place was slowly changing and if Mikasa were to take a guess, she was sure that Levi didn't want to stay and witness the full change, he just wasn't saying it.

Eren yelped quietly as he hit himself against a wall once again. He huffed, his hands touching the wall next to him as he tried to guide his way through the darkness. "I hate it when he leaves me like this by myself!" He mumbled angrily. "Levi!" The teen kept screaming the other's name, wondering where the hell he was. Levi had his eyes so he couldn't fall for illusions, yet it seems like they were somehow separated. Which meant this wasn't an illusion, they were inside the spirit's world. He was sure that by now Levi knew this, but the fact that his sight wasn't back yet nor his hearing meant that Levi was not too far.

"Levi!" Eren was doing the only thing he could and also the only thing he shouldn't do, he was looking for Levi. He kept moving, touching the hall next to him. Once in a while he would reach a door but he wouldn't go in, instead he would scream Levi's name to see if the other was inside but so far he had no luck. He kept walking, going straight and touching the wall, his senses not letting him see how he was walking straight into one of the apartments. Eren frowned when the wall came to an end, and instead put his hands in front of him, slowly moving them from one side to the other to see if he could feel anything around him, there was nothing but his knees kept bumping against furniture and the teen decided to guide himself through that. He walked through the living room, and then hit himself against something again, he hissing quietly as he fell on the floor but he landed on something soft, something that was breathing. The teen quickly got to his feet, feeling movement around him except he couldn't hear anything.

Eren gasped when something trying to reach for him, his blood turning cold. There was no way a spirit would be trying to get him, he couldn't hear them or see them, meaning that they wouldn't notice him but he still felt the movement. He felt as the figure walked towards him and Eren shook his head. He was shaking, biting on his bottom lip and screamed Levi's name once again just to have someone covering his mouth right away. The figure held onto his wrist and then started running, dragging the teen with them.

"Let go!" Eren hissed, trying to stop the other and yank his hand free but the person had a tight hold on his wrist. He kept pulling him around and he was sure that the other was probably telling him something but Eren couldn't hear anything, hopefully the other was figuring it out by now. Still, they kept guiding Eren around until suddenly the teen could see again. Eren blinked a couple of times and shook his head, his eyes widening.

"No..." In less than a second the two were surrounded by the little girls. Eren was finally able to see who was holding his wrist. It was a blonde man with hair that reached his shoulders and was tied in a messy pony tail. He had wide blue eyes and was a bit taller than Eren. He was panting and looking around with fear. "I-its fine, don't worry they won't hurt us." yet, but Eren kept that part to himself. The girls couldn't touch them though, every time they tried to reach for him they would flinch away.

"You can see them now?" The man asked, his hand still holding tightly on Eren's wrist.

"Y-yeah, just don't let go and keep walking. I'm Eren, who are you? Are you Mikasa's friend?"

"You know Mikasa? Did she send you? Where is she, I need to find her now! We don't have much time." The man pulled Eren towards him, his eyes full of desperation and fear and Eren was sure it wasn't fear from the spirits.

"She is here, who are you?" Eren asked a second time. He wanted to push the man away as hard as he could because by now he was hurting his wrist but he couldn't, the other would be in danger if he did.

"Thank god..." The stranger sighed in relief and leaned back against the wall behind them. "I'm Armin, Armin Alert. I'm Mikasa's childhood friend. I need to get her necklace to her, now. I've been keeping it safe but I can't anymore. There are so many of them."

Eren narrowed his eyes, looking at the other suspiciously as he kept leaning against the wall behind him. "You seem to know the necklace is doing this...Mikasa herself wasn't even sure, how come you know about this when it's her necklace."

The teen watched as the other went stiff, the blue eyes turning to stare at Eren. The blonde reacted quickly but Eren was faster, he was able to dodge as Armin reached for his neck. Something was wrong, something didn't fit, why was Armin so desperate to find Mikasa when she herself wasn't even aware of what the necklace was or what kind of power it had, but Armin. He seemed to know.

Armin launched at him again but this time Eren stared at him, his honey colored eyes staring at the wide blue eyes. "Darkness crawls and darkness blinds, I sacrifice my sight so you can show me the light." Eren's words were rushed and he spoke so quickly it became a slur, but he finished before the blonde could attack him. Blue eyes widened as as he felt something odd crawling on his eyeballs, he hissed and fell on his knees. Eren did the same, his forehead resting on the floor as everything around him changed. The hallways were gone, and he was kneeling down in front of a street. It was a nice neighborhood with a lot of trees and big houses, there was a park in front of where Eren was and he could see two children playing. A little girl with long black hair and dark eyes and a blonde kid with blonde hair that reached his neck, his eyes the same color as the sky. It was Mikasa and Armin, there was no doubt.

Eren watched as they threw the ball at each other, Mikasa was obviously better at it than Armin. She threw the ball hard and Armin had a hard time catching it. He kept trying but his short arms couldn't do it. Mikasa threw the ball again and this time it went pass Armin's head. The blonde yelled something about how Mikasa was too strong and went running to get the ball. He didn't notice how a car was speeding down the road, until it was too late. Eren watched as Mikasa came running and pushed the kid out of the way just to get hit by the car, her body bounced against the windshield and then hit the corner of the car before it landed on the street with a loud noise. She was bloody and her neck was oddly twisted. Armin screamed, he screamed loud but his mouth was then covered to stop him. A woman with long black hair was crying and holding onto the blond kid, she shushed him and then picked up the body of the dead girl.

"Help me Armin, please." The little boy did what he could, but the woman was able to carry the girl on her own, nevertheless he followed her, his blue eyes tearing up. Eren watched as the mother threw everything off of the dining room table and placed the girl on top. She was crying but she didn't let the tears stop her. Eren watched as the woman ran through the house, getting things from the basement and her room. It was almost as if his eyes could truly see everything, even though he was standing in the middle of the dinning room watching Armin cry and hold onto Mikasa's hand.

Mikasa's mother came back and closed the curtains. She moved the furniture in the living area and started to write odd glyphs on the floor. Eren could recognize them from Levi's books. He knew these symbols they were used by magic users, the enchanters. The ones that could use magic with spells and only that. Mikasa's mother had been like Levi and Eren. The teen watched as the woman kept writing on the floor and then the walls, the whole room was consumed by writing and she was doing it so quickly Eren was sure she was using magic by now. Armin however was ignoring all of this, he was still crying and holding onto Mikasa until her mother picked her up and put her down in the middle of the floor where there was no more writing and a symbol was drawn where she was laid down. The symbol was a circle with a spider lily drawn in the middle, it had tiny writing on it but Eren couldn't really see what else it said.

The girl was laid flat on the floor but Eren wasn't able to see the rest. He felt as a hand pulled on his shoulder and he was brought back to reality. The teen took a deep breath and turned around, Levi was standing behind him pulling him away from Armin while Mikasa was holding onto Armin's face and pulling him into a huge.

"Levi, this...the necklace..." Eren wasn't even able to explain what he had just witnessed.

"I know...I saw it when I gained control of your eyes." The raven whispered. "Mikasa doesn't know Eren."

"But she has to..."

"I know." Levi nodded slowly and stood up, looking at the two. "Armin Alert, right?"

The blonde nodded, looking at Levi with wide eyes. He was still in shock from what just happened. He wasn't even sure of what Eren had done but he found himself remembering everything that happened that day. He looked back at Mikasa and hugged her, not letting go as he felt himself tearing up.

"I'm sorry Mikasa, I'm sorry!" He sobbed and then handed the girl her necklace, his shaky hands putting it around the girl's neck.

"Armin, it's fine, I don't care about this thing. I'm just glad you are okay." Mikasa smiled and hugged her friend again, not letting go of him this time.

"No, you have to keep it please, you have to keep it at all times! Promise me you will! You won't forget it again!" Armin was half screaming this time, his hands holding onto Mikasa's shoulders.

"Armin, I won't...why is this so important?" Mikasa frowned, holding onto her friend's hands.

It was Levi's turn to interrupt the precious reunion. He stepped in, looking down at the two, his silver eyes narrowing. "Because your friend here, has been feeding that necklace souls to keep you alive...more importantly children's souls."

"Your mother made the spell, but she offered herself as the first sacrifice, after that Armin had to be the one to keep doing it because he was the only one that knew about this." Eren nodded slowly, and stood up.

"How many little girls have you fed to that thing?" Levi hissed quietly, his arms reaching for the blond. He forced him to stand up and face him.

Eren stared at the two, his yellow eyes glowing as the little girls became visible once again, the hallway was infested. But all the girls looked the same, all of them had long black hair and dark eyes, all of them looked like Mikasa, except none of them were her. All of them were smiling and bloody and all of them were staring at them. Eren could see it, he could see how all the girls had been killed. He could see Armin doing it since he was a child. How he had lured in girls from the neighborhood, how he had killed them and hid the bodies or left them there to rot. He could see him crying and sobbing and hating himself for it, but in the end he had to keep doing it. He had to, or else Mikasa was going to die. It had been his fault, he had done. If he hadn't been so weak, if he hadn't been so stupid, this wouldn't have happened to her.

"I-I don't know. I-I lost count." Armin's voice was cracking and Eren couldn't help himself but to look away. Mikasa was on her knees, her eyes wide as she couldn't believe what they had just told her. No, Armin couldn't have done this, he couldn't have. He was her best friend, he loved her and she loved him. The two had grown together, met knew people and even worked in the same place. He wouldn't have...right? But he would have, because Mikasa found herself asking if she would had done the same thing when she was a kid, and she couldn't find this going any other way.

"When you left the necklace behind, the seal that kept them inside broke. That's why this happened." Levi was looking down at Mikasa but the girl was staring at the floor, giving no signs of understanding. "They want to break free. Stealing children's souls is bad, anything related with children is always a pain in the ass. I'm surprised you were able to hold them this long, maybe because this asshole over here kept feeding the spell non-stop."

There as a long silence. Eren wasn't sure of what to do anymore, he knew that Levi had probably known about this the moment he took the job, but he couldn't help himself but to feel bad for the two. It hadn't been Mikasa's fault and Armin was pretty much forced by Mikasa's mother...right?

"I'm...d-dead?" Mikasa broke the silence, her lips trembling. She was looking up now, her dark eyes holding in tears.

"Yeah, you are, the girls that were following you weren't trying to attack you, they were trying to keep you from the necklace so they could break free..." Levi let go of Armin and shoved him against the wall. "And thankfully for you, I don't judge humans, only magic users otherwise your friend over here would be dead..." The raven narrowed his eyes and moved towards the girl, and as he did his form seem to change. It was almost like smoke was clinging to his form and his fingers became like claws as his long nails touched necklace. "Eren, your eyes." and without any other explanation the shop owner took possession of Eren's eyes again and his hand began to glow with a dark green light. The red necklace changed colors before the light was absorbed into the necklace, along with the hallways and everything around them, in the end they were left back in the same apartment building with the green hallways and dim lights.

"It is sealed again..." Levi let go of Mikasa's necklace and his eyes turned back to their original color. He sighed and stood up, looking in between Armin and Mikasa. "I won't harm any of you, because you were told to do this by an enchantress, you were told to do this because of guilt but if you harm a girl again, I will come looking for you and I will make you the last sacrifice."

"But she will die!" Armin yelled, his eyes wide as he shook his head. "I can't let that happen!"

Mikasa gently placed her hand on her friend's shoulder and she smiled at him. "Armin, its fine...I have lived a good life, maybe not a full one but a good one. I would like to live the rest of my life without making you suffer. You don't have to do this anymore. I love you like a brother, I don't want to watch you hate yourself over this." She hugged the blonde and Armin hugged her back right away. He was mumbling how sorry he was and how it was his fault. Still she simply kept patting his back, her eyes holding back her tears as she tried not to break down. But she was alive over the dead of so many, she felt terrible, awful, she hated it but she didn't let it show.

Levi motioned at Eren with his head and the teen frowned, but followed him, they were back in the shop in the blink of an eye with Levi moving to sit on one of his chairs with a tired sigh.

"That was boring." The raven said after a couple of minutes, his head tilting back against his chair.

"Boring? You're a dick." Eren frowned, shaking his head at him as he sat on the floor.

"Don't be rude just because I don't get emotionally attached to my job. You know what's going to happen, that girl is not going to be able to live with the guilt, she is not going to be able to live with the fact that she is alive over the death of all those little girls and Armin, he is not going to be able to live with the guilt either, the feeling of failure. He never has, none of them. Ignorance is a bliss, until you find the truth, then it can make you hate yourself more than you ever did." Levi nodded slowly, closing his eyes with a low noise. He hummed quietly, and stretched his legs.

"I know that's going to happen, I just wish it didn't." Eren mumbled quietly, tilting his head back against one of the chairs. It was sad, tragic and he hated it. He hated how this happened because a forbidden spell had been used. No one was allowed to bring the dead back to life this way, the sacrifice that came with it was far too great. No spell ever came without some sort of sacrifice, people would just ignore the consequences most of the time. It had to be this way, no, it was just this way, there was no avoiding it, it was the downside of being able to use magic.

"That's why you are my eyes and I'm the judge, right?" Levi was standing and in front of the teen in seconds, his fingers gently holding onto his chin. "With your eyes we can judge all of those magic users and put an end to them, make them pay for abusing their power. Balance has to be kept Eren, and you and I, we have a job to do. Don't you agree?"

The teen nodded slowly, his lips rubbing together as he stared at the other with nothing but determination in his eyes.

"Good boy."

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me stuff ouo/!

**Author's Note:**

> tell me stuff! ouo


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